dress in layers

Forgive me, but my technologically novice brain just learned how to embed a link, and I ran with it!

As I type, it is a sunny, pleasantly breezy 72 degrees down here in Southern Maryland (capris weather!), and I just came back from a refreshing afternoon spent running errands! Refreshing, in that I'm not stuck all day in that stuffy phone room! But oh, to be sitting right now with my sweetie on the dock at Piney Point Lighthouse, one of our favorite places and actually, the site of our engagement! That would cap the afternoon with perfection! Maybe I'll have to talk him into a short jaunt after dinner. The lighthouse stands almost literally down the road from us!

But wait! Didn't we just have a snow day?!

Normally, I groan when the mercury climbs above 50, and sometimes above 40! I have thus far thoroughly enjoyed wearing long pants and sweaters for the last few months. I'm definitely not ready for the Great Maryland Sweat quite yet! Yet today is just nice.

Winters here are generally short-lived and mild, although sometimes you just never know what you're going to get! As far as this formerly (and happily) frozen Minnesotan is concerned, there are few redeeming qualities of a Southern Maryland "Winter". Only three that I can think of off the top of my head.

For one, the fact that drive through ice cream stands such as Brusters remain open year round. Seriously, every Friday night in January you will see a line of people with zipped-up coats and gloves on, debating between a sundae and a split! And I thought I was the hearty one!

I can label the second quality only slightly redeeming, and that is because it is a quality which, in the summer, I no less than abhor. And that is, damp air. Hallelujah, no static, fly-away hair! Earlier in the month when we were in Minnesota, I dealt with some extremely dry air. I can't believe I had forgotten this vice, which I had encountered and constantly fought with my whole life up until 2 1/2 years ago! The whole week Jeromy asked why I was continually licking my fingers. Well, I didn't exactly carry a spray bottle around on my person, and nobody likes their hair sticking to their neck and chin all day! What was worse, we spent most of our stay in the hospital with my dad, an environment regulated to block all moisture from the air for the purpose of constant sterilization. My hair looked great as I looked in the mirror at the motel every morning, but I quickly and sadly learned that a ponytail would be in order the rest of the day.

NOT so in Southern Maryland! Fly-aways do not survive these wet winters! However, what I won't get into just yet are the nasty, wet-blanket-muggy summers we must suffer through. You will do well to trust me on this. If you do not own a boat or live on the water or both, you are better off staying put exactly where you are!

I alluded to the third redeeming quality of Southern Maryland Winters when I mentioned our raging blizzard of a snow day last Thursday. One measly inch! If that. And the last flake fell long before the light of day! Inclement weather, ha! It snowed every single day we spent in Minnesota, with conditions at least 10 times worse than here! But of course, the Midwest is much better prepared for that sort of weather, so I guess I can't poke fun TOO horribly at the sissies who live here.

The best part about the Great Valentine's Day White Out was that every last bit of snow melted by the end of the day, with high daytime temperatures reaching 50 degrees! I LOVE the fact that Southern Marylanders can't deal with snow! I don't even care if that puts me into the sissy category if it means I get to play hooky!

Now, I don't know who came up with the policy that should county schools ever delay or close that my office follows suit, but I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever! This was our first official snow day of the winter, although we were delayed two hours one morning a couple of months ago (of which I was oblivious to until I pulled into an empty parking lot at work and at which point I doodled around for the two whole hours before even considering starting up the copy machine!). Most often the schools close due to ice (but they flinch at the very rumor of white stuff all the same), just because we tend to get more freezing rain than snow. Ice does scare me, but I am more afraid of other people on the road who freak out and can become reckless in that state of mind. If I were Governor O'Malley, I would close schools not so much because of actual snow or ice, but because of the drivers!

What I find absolutely ironic is that last year on the very same day we got blasted with an ice storm. And it weren't no "glistening tree" icicle, either. Nobody should have been forced to go out in that skating rink; yet for some twisted reason, the governor chose to keep school in session! The weather only worsened as the day progressed. When it was finally time to leave the office I went outside to chisel my door open and scrape the windows. Had I known better I would have left early like half my co-workers, even without pay! Der!

I have to say, I'm a little paranoid about locking my keys in my car, and especially while it's running. (It's happened before!) It's so easy to accidentally press the "lock" button and not realize it, so I rarely shut the door if the keys are in the ignition. However, I have since learned to keep a spare key in my purse....but what if the purse is also in the car? (Also happened before!) Anyway, my paranoia kicked in while I was out there scraping away in the whipping wind and dangerously slippery parking lot. I just about finished when I lost my footing. My arms went up to insinctively grab the open door for support, but my head was quicker and my right temple slammed into the sharp corner of the door. I about lost consciousness, the side of my head went numb, and of course, the site of the wound started bleeding.

Long story short, I rushed home as safely as possible in that mess (head pounding all the way), and Jeromy insisted I visit the ER. We ended up staying there for FOUR hours that night because of so many people with ice-related accidents that kept coming in. There went Valentine's Day!

I know it can be difficult to predict how weather conditions will actually go down (no pun intended) but I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't close schools last year with that crazy ice storm, and why they did close this year, which seemed like an unwise decision, with conditions clearing up by daybreak. Of course, I'm still not complaining, only wishing that I could have been spared that ER visit last year. It had cost me not only the four miserable hours, but a $50 co-pay and a tetanus shot to boot!

But while, under more typical circumstances, I breathe deeply of our Winters, today it is Spring. And a holiday, at that! I am not sure why lucky me gets all the federal holidays off while my husband has to slave away at his desk, but I am quite grateful for these few hours to not only catch up on that to-do list, but simply to rest and enjoy the day. (I have to force myself most of time!) The last few weeks especially have been a stressful whirlwind for us and, though a labor of love for my family, President's Day came just in time! Through our screen door I can hear the wind blowing, birds chirping, and neighborhood kids playing outside. You can take Southern Maryland in the summer, but I'll take today!

I can only hope for another snow day!